Men's Golf Prepares for NCAA Championships, June 1-6
5/28/2010 7:10:00 PM | Men's Golf
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern will be one of 30 programs in the nation competing for the 2010 Men’s Golf National Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn., June 1-6. This will be the 19th overall appearance for Georgia Southern at the NCAA Championship, including individual and team appearances, and fourth under the direction of head coach Larry Mays. The last championship appearance occurred in 2005.
“This is the goal at the beginning of every year. We want to be playing in the last tournament and we are,” said Mays. “We’re extremely proud of the team and we’re excited to have the opportunity to go up against the best teams in the country. Hopefully we can bring our game up there and stack up well against the best competition college golf has to offer.”
LINEUP: Representing Georgia Southern will be three seniors, one junior and a redshirt-freshman. Comprising the five man lineup will be junior Logan Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.), redshirt-freshman Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria), and seniors Spence Fulford (Rocky Mount, N.C.), Ryan Zabroske (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.).
WHEN: The championship will take place June 1-6 with Georgia Southern teeing off Tuesday, June 1 at 8:35 a.m. on the front nine and Wednesday at 1:47 p.m. off the back nine. The Eagles will be paired with LSU and Baylor for the first two rounds.
FIELD: In order of seeding, the 30 teams participating in the Golf Championship are: Oregon, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Washington, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Southern California, Augusta State, Florida State, Clemson, UCLA, Florida, Georgia Tech, UNLV, Kent State, TCU, San Diego, California, Arizona State, Oregon State, North Florida, Duke, Tennessee, Penn State, Virginia, Illinois, LSU, Baylor and Georgia Southern.
In addition, six individuals will also be on-site competing for the individual championship. They are: Marshall Bailey (Virginia Tech), Nick Delio (Cal State Northridge), Rhys Enoch (ETSU), Robbie Fillmore (BYU), Russell Henley (Georgia) and Espen Kofstad (Denver).
THE HONORS COURSE: The 2010 Golf Championships will be held at The Honors Course, a par 72, 7,395 yard Pete Dye designed course located in Ooltewah, Tenn. The course is rated No. 15 of the modern courses by Golfweek and No. 38 in Golf Digest’s Top 100. This will be the second time The Honors hosted the NCAA Golf Championship. The first time was in 1996 when Arizona State took the team title and Tiger Woods (Stanford) won the individual crown.
Course Records:
Single round: 67 (-5), set by Woods (1996) and Adam Mitchell (2009),
36-hole record: 136 (-8), also set by Woods (1996),
54-hole record: 205 (-11), also set by Woods (1996).
FORMAT: In 2009, the NCAA moved to a match play formatted tournament and the 2010 championship will carry the same format. The 30 teams and six individuals that qualified from regional play will play three 18-hole rounds (54 holes total) over the first three days (June 1-3). At the end of the three rounds, the individual medalist will be crowned (June 3) and the low eight teams will advance into single elimination match play. One round of match play will be conducted over the final three days with the national champion being crowned on Sunday, June 6. Seeding of the teams will be determined through team finish in stroke play.
QUOTING COACH MAYS: “Competing at the national championship is similar to competing at a regional - all the teams are good, quality programs and everyone has to be competing at the top of their game to make the final eight cut. We want to make it to match play, which is something we feel we can be very good at with the type of players on the team.
“In match play, you’re playing man-to-man instead of just playing the course and you have to play differently. What your opponent does in match play can affect what you do and that’s what our tough, grinding kids will be good at.”
LIVE SCORING: Live scoring, tee times and results will be available at www.Golfstat.com. Webcasting of the second and final rounds of stroke play (holes No. 16-18) will be available on NCAA.com.
TICKETS: Tickets are on sale by calling (423) 266-6627. An All-Session badge costs $45 and is good for all six days, while an Any-Session badge is $15 and can be used once on any day of the championship. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here.
NOTABLES FOR THE EAGLES
Logan Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.), Junior
-- Saw action in six tournaments with team as a junior
-- Finished second in the NCAA Southeast Regional with 2-under 208
-- Best finish this season came at Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational as an individual at 3-under 213, T6
-- Low tournament total of season was 3-under 213 twice
-- Competed as an individual at Lonnie Barton Memorial Invitational and finished second
-- Was SoCon ‘Player of the Year’ in 2008-09, Member of SoCon All-Conference Team
-- Captured two individual medalist honors in 2008-09 -- Won Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate in a playoff (67-72-73=212) and took Kaua’i Collegiate Cup crown with a career low 54-holes at -8 (70-69-69=208)
Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria), Redshirt-Freshman
-- Competed in 30 rounds in freshman campaign
-- Tied for 34th at NCAA Southeast Regional with an 8-over 218
-- Best finish was T5 at John Hayt Invitational with a 1-over 217
-- Added another two ‘Top 10’ finishes at Springhill Suites and Gary Koch
-- Career-low 54 came at Gary Koch at 5-under 211
-- Career-low round recorded in first tournament at Springhill Suites at 68
Spence Fulford (Rocky Mount, N.C.), Senior
-- One of three players to compete in all 33 rounds this season
-- Named 2009- 10 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year at Georgia Southern
-- Tied for 26th at the NCAA Southeast Regional with 6-over 216
-- Set competitive course record at The Country Club of South Carolina with a 9-under 63 in second round of Springhill Suites, which also tied Georgia Southern’s all-time low round
-- Best finish this season was T3 at Springhill Suites in the fall
-- Finished T-9 at the 2010 SoCon Championship with 1-over 217
-- Was Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar in 2008-09
-- Carded career-low 54 at NCAA Southeast Regional in 2008-09 and finished fifth with an 8-under 205
Ryan Zabroske (Alpharetta, Ga.), Senior
-- One of three players to compete in all 33 rounds this year
-- Finished tied for 65th at NCAA Southeast Regional
-- Carded career-low round at Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate with a 67
-- Tied career-low round and set career-low 54 at Augusta State with a 207
-- Collected four ‘Top 5’ finishes including a second-place at Adams Cup of Newport and Mizuno Savannah
-- Finished T5 at SoCon Championship with 2-under 214
Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.), Senior
-- Seen action in nine tournaments this season
-- Finished tied for 58th at NCAA Southeast Regional
-- Set career-low round at Augusta State Invitational with 2-under par 70 en route to career-low 54 of 217 (+1)
-- Best finish was T19 at SoCon Championship
Head Coach Larry Mays
In ten seasons as head coach, Larry Mays has re-established the Georgia Southern golf program as a perennial power in collegiate golf. After a 12-year drought from appearing in postseason play, Mays has taken the Eagles to eight NCAA Regional Cham¬pionships, advancing to the NCAA Championship four times, all since taking over the program in 2001.
Only the sixth coach in program history, Mays has guided five Southern Conference ‘Freshman of the Year’ award winners and two SoCon ‘Player of the Year’ recipients, most recently in Logan Blondell for 2008-09.
Mays directed the Eagles to the first-ever Southern Conference title in 2003, to be followed with a second title in 2006. In 2008-09, Drew Lethem became only the second player in program history to record individual medalist honors in the SoCon Tournament, and the only in the new millen¬nium. Lethem earned his first career collegiate title, career low 54-holes and career low round with the 6-under par 210 (66-72-72). The first Eagle to capture the honor was Neil Gibson in 1995.
In 2008-09, the Eagles finished 10th at the NCAA Southeast Regional with Spence Fulford placing fifth individually with an 8-under 205.
